Before I came to Israel, I invested in a digital camera. It has proven very valuable for sending home pictures of what I am doing. (Mine is the Olympus D-460 Zoom. Well, one of the teachers with whom I work was very taken with the idea of digital camera, and so she decided to get one of her own for Channukah. She came back from her trip to the U.S. with a Kodak DC-25. The Kodak cost about $150 less than the Olympus. But, of course, that's not the only consideration. So after a couple of weeks of playing with both cameras, here's the decision.

This may be a "low end," inexpensive camera, but Kodak put a lot of quality and production value into it. There is a built in flash which fills nicely when there is insufficient lighting. There is an LCD screen so you can see what your pictures look like. There are two memory modes which allow about 15 pictures on the card at high resolution. We weren't satisfied at all with the low resolution pictures, and so have never maxed out in that mode. At high resolution, we're talking 493x373. Low resolution is 320x240. The lens is focus free from 1/2 meter to infinity. This allows camera dummies like me to point and shoot.

This camera seems to do better with still pictures than moving people pictures. It might be better for a realtor taking pictures of a property than for a teacher taking pictures of active children.

If you have the money, I would still go for the Olympus. It is slightly more complicated, but it is a better camera. On the other hand, the Kodak really delivers a lot of bang for the buck. This is a good, solid camera and will be one we'll be having fun with for a long time at our school.

***************
If you are interested in more of my reviews about cameras, here is what I've written so far and where you can find them:

Pentax 67 II (Camera)
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-3C14-1409BB85-3A0C753E-prod2

Polaroid One Step (Instant Camera)
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-4953-439761B4-3A47163E-prod3

Olympus C-3030
http://www.epinions.com/content_89597644420

Olympus D-460
http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-19D1-F37D446-398E65D5-prod1

Recommended: Yes